Super Soldier Serum Adventures
by Marvelous Winchester
Summary: When Steve Rogers starts to experience intermittent problems with the Super Soldier Serum that gives him enhanced abilities, he's faced with a decision. Continue to serve as Captain America with increased risk, or back away from the role until they can fix the problem? Luckily, he has his team behind him as they face the shenanigans of an occasionally de-powered Steve.


**Hey awesome readers! Sorry I haven't been updating my current stories much recently, but I'm going to dive into a new one. Don't worry, my older stories will be getting updates soon too.**

**Thanks for reading!**

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Steve winced as he pulled his uniform into place. He rolled his shoulders as the fabric, Kevlar, and armor settled onto his body. His left wrist throbbed painfully where he'd sprained it three days ago, and the heavy bruising between his spine and right shoulder blade protested each time he moved.

_All of this should've been healed by now, _he thought. _I've had days since our last call._

He was interrupted by the God of Thunder clapping him roughly on the back. Steve fought the urge to gasp as he locked his knees to keep from staggering.

"Steven," Thor said with a wide smile. "It is an excellent day for a battle, is it not? I sense the patterns of a swift victory in the air."

All Steve could sense in the air was the smell of his own aftershave and notes of the cleaner that was used in Avengers Tower.

Steve tried to plaster a convincing smile on his face in return. "A swift victory sounds wonderful," he said, working hard to keep his mind from wandering.

Thor looked at him more closely, and Steve turned away to avoid the scrutiny. He picked up his shield and began to fiddle with the connectors Tony had created. His shield now easily attached to his harness, making storing it and accessing it much quicker.

"Any news from Asgard?" Steve asked quickly, hoping to avoid the inevitable question.

"As of yet, no," Thor began, breaking into a wide smile as Tony Stark burst into the staging room.

The inventor looked frazzled and worried, and he glanced at them both quickly as he shoved his phone into a pant pocket. He was clad in the under suit that he generally wore under the Iron Man armor, when time permitted.

"What the hell? Why aren't you already on the Quinjet?" Tony was talking in that rapid-fire way that he used when he was excited or overly concerned. "Was there something about 'alien threat' in the dispatch that didn't blow up your skirts?"

"Yes," Tony said, holding up a hand as Thor opened his mouth to ask a question. "I'm aware that you aren't wearing skirts. It's a figure of speech, Point Break."

Thor nodded sagely despite the nickname.

"Anthony, we are ready to face the threat," he boomed, easily hefting his hammer and striding past Tony in a swirl of rich, red fabric.

Tony met Steve's eyes in a moment of exasperation before he turned to follow the resident Asgardian. "Let's go, Cap," he said with a sigh, "we've got some alien ass to kick."

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Just minutes later, the three Avengers were strapped into the Quinjet. Though Thor, Tony—and Steve, to some extent—ignored the signs advising passengers _not_ to roam about the cabin during flight, they were all sitting in silence after getting a briefing from their favorite, one-eyed director of espionage.

"So this child," Steve began, struggling to find the right words. "Is she dead? Or is there a chance we can save her?"

Tony was uncharacteristically quiet, but it was obvious that his thoughts were moving at light speed.

"Cap," he said, "I think it's kind of impossible at this point to know that one way or the other."

"Many beings can partially inhabit a host without destroying the mind," Thor added. He too, was uncharacteristically quiet.

"But if we're trying to stop the alien," Steve said slowly, "any physical harm we do to her body, that's going to hurt her?"

"Yup," Tony said, scratching at his facial hair absently as he thought. "That's the only reasonable assumption at this point."

"And she's five," Steve said.

"Jesus," Tony looked pale. "We can't hurt a kid. Basically all of my countermeasures are meant to cause physical damage. I'm hardly going to be able to fight."

"It is safe to assume that her physical resilience will be heightened while she is the host," Thor rumbled, turning the hilt of his hammer in his hand absently.

"How heightened?" Tony demanded, eyes suddenly wide in challenge. "Where the hell is the line here? How hard can we try to destroy this alien threat without hurting the host?"

Steve winced. "Without hurting the girl," he said quietly.

Tony nodded, the fire gone from his eyes.

"Though it pains me to raise the thought," Thor said, "we may reach a point where protecting the host child creates increased danger to other civilians we are trying to protect."

They sat in silence as the Quinjet hummed quietly in the background.

Steve finally spoke. "So we need to clear the area. Let's get S.H.I.E.L.D. on that now. That will give us more freedom to deal with the threat and protect the girl."

Steve pushed himself to his feet, feeling the strain of his injuries. He choked down a grunt and strode to the cockpit to open a line to Director Fury.

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Tony watched Steve walk away with a stiff set to his shoulders. He wasn't moving with his normal fluidity and grace, which was somewhat concerning. The inventor would admit that part of him wanted to make a joke about the arthritis finally catching up to the old man, but Steve simply didn't _stay_ injured. Tony could get hurt in a battle, and that injury would stay with him for the rest of his life. It got better, but there was a reason why the more human members of the team had various prescriptions for pain medication. Eventually, no matter how cool your armor or how intense and scary your training, repetitive motion injuries and chronic pain from past battles caught up with you. Steve didn't have that problem. The man recovered quickly and perfectly—at least, as far as Tony knew.

"Has he seemed off to you today?" He titled his head in the direction Steve had walked, trusting that Thor wouldn't need any additional information.

"While he donned his armor," Thor said quietly, "He made expressions that suggested pain. During the last battle, he was not so badly injured that he would still be recovering."

"Maybe he got hurt more recently?" Tony quickly went through memories of the last few days, pulling details from his nearly perfect memory.

"I find that to be unlikely," Thor said, his lips turning down in a frown. "He spends much of his time in the Tower. When he trains alone, his likelihood for injury is low. Perhaps we should ask him. It is every warrior's right to know the weaknesses of his team. This helps to make the team strong and complete."

"Yeah, you've definitely got a point, Point Break," Tony said, slamming his hand down onto Thor's well-armored shoulder as he stood. Since Thor's overly-enthusiastic greetings often left Tony with bruises, it was a goal of his to return the favor. Other than a displeased quirk of his eyebrow at the nickname, Thor didn't show any sign that he had felt it. Tony harrumphed in displeasure, but he walked over to the cockpit, where Steve was obviously brooding.

"Hey Cap," he said brightly, bringing his left hand down on Steve's shoulder just like he had to Thor. They seemed to be equally build out of vibranium, so Tony figured that result would be the same. Instead, Steve went pale and gasped, dropping his shoulder as the hand connected.

"What the hell, Stark?" Steve ground out, eyes blazing as he brought his left hand up to hover over his right arm protectively.

"I'm sorry," Tony said with zero apology in his voice. "Is there something that you should maybe share with us before we go dashing into battle together?"

Steve glared, but it softened when he saw that Thor had moved over to the group, concern evident in his gaze.

Steve dropped his eyes, glancing at his uniform sleeve and picking at a seam there. "There's something going on with my healing factor," he said quietly.

"Something going on," Tony said flatly. "We're going to need more info than that, sorry Cap. Considering that we're approaching a destruction zone in five minutes, we're going to need some more details."

"Three days ago, those pirates in the Atlantic, remember?" Steve started, turning in his seat so that he could speak to them more directly. When Tony nodded, he continued. "I sprained my wrist pretty badly taking a fall from the main deck, and I was pushed out of the way of gunfire a little roughly—" Steve glared at Tony for a second, "—and I landed on an oxygen cannister." He gingerly touched the bruised place on his back.

"Well, first off," Tony began, "you're welcome for saving your life. You would've had to change your uniform colors, because you would've resembled Swiss Cheese. Those were experimental weapons—they would've punched big holes."

Steve rolled his eyes, but didn't interrupt.

"Second," Tony said, "fuck this whole 'not sharing that information with the team' thing that you've got going on."

Steve's lips tightened into a thin line, but he still said nothing.

"Is there merely a decrease in your healing abilities," Thor jumped in, "or do they seem to be reduced to the ordinary human level?"

"Ordinary human," Steve said tightly.

"Rude," Tony said, but concern was written all over his face. "What is your current injury status?"

"Left wrist is sprained and still swollen, but I have it wrapped underneath the uniform," Steve said with a wince. "Back is pretty messed up. The bruising has darkened and changed colors since the original injury, but that's normal. It just isn't healing at the rate I'm use to. Hurts like a son of a bitch."

Tony raised an eyebrow at the language, but decided to say nothing.

"Alright," Tony said, "so we have a new game plan for this battle."

Thor crossed his arms and gave Tony his full attention.

"First, clear the area," he said. "Hopefully S.H.I.E.L.D. is already all over that. Second, protect the little girl whose body this motherfucker has decided to use as a host. Third, keep Captain Fragile here mostly out of the path of fire."

Steve opened his mouth to protest, but Thor met him with a stern gaze.

"It falls to each of us to protect our team," Thor said solemnly. "We need you, Steven, but we also need to keep you from harm."

"Are all of the other serum abilities online?" Tony asked. "Super strong? Super fast? Super patriotic?"

"As far as I can tell," Steve said.

Yellow icons began popping up on screens around the Quinjet, alerting the team that they were approaching the drop site.

"Just know," Tony said, "if we currently had Romanoff or Banner—hell even Barton, we would bench you so fast your head would spin. Just don't get killed out there."

Steve nodded curtly as they prepared to do battle with an alien force possessing the body of a five-year-old girl. At least the future couldn't get any weirder, right?


End file.
